Electrical panel structures

ABSTRACT

Electrical panel structures for a modular building system, such as a modular data center. The electrical panel structures provide a standardized structure for attachment of high voltage power, low voltage power, and/or data lines between rooms or components of the modular building system. The panel structures can include multiple conduits that extend between rooms or other components of a modular building structure. The panel structures can include, for example, conduits having couplers for the attachment of high voltage cables and/or pass-throughs for the passage of low voltage lines and/or data lines.

BACKGROUND

Modular building structures provide a portable method of deployingbuilding capacity. As an example, a modular data center system includesmodules and components to offer scalable data center capacity. Modules,such as rooms, can be shipped to a site and can be added, integrated, orretrofitted into an existing data center footprint, or combined into asystem of existing modules. In this manner, a data center can beexpanded without significant architectural or building costs.

Often, modular data centers include rooms that can be easily added to orremoved from the main data center structure. However, an issue with suchmodular data centers is that power and data cable options are oftencentralized, and homerun power and data cables are routed to new roomsof the modular data center. After a number of these homerun cables havebeen connected through a number of rooms, removal of a room in themodular data center becomes complex, and can require multipleelectricians and a large amount of restructuring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a modular building system in accordance with embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of one of the walls for a roomfor the building system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of an electrical panel structure inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a pre-wired conduit for thepanel structure of FIG. 3 in accordance with embodiments.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective of an electrical panel structure inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a two piece conduit for thepanel structure of FIG. 5 in accordance with embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a cutaway view of a floor panel structure in accordance withembodiments.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the floor panel structure of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a frame for a panel structurein accordance with embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, various embodiments will be described. Forpurposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that theembodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Furthermore,well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscurethe embodiment being described.

In accordance with embodiments herein, electrical panel structures areprovided for a modular building system, such as a modular data center.The electrical panel structures provide a standardized structure forattachment of high voltage power, low voltage power, and/or data linesbetween rooms or components of the modular building system. The panelstructures can include multiple conduits that extend between rooms orother components of a modular building structure. The panel structurescan include, for example, conduits having couplers for the attachment ofhigh voltage cables and/or pass-throughs for the passage of low voltagelines and/or data lines.

In embodiments, the electrical panel structures are fitted into a walland/or floor of each room or component of the modular building system.The panel structures may be, for example, provided in an upper corner ofeach room. Cables can be routed between the panel structures forproviding low voltage or high voltage power options for a new room. Asubpanel can be routed from the panel structures to provide power forthe room.

The modularity of the panel structures permits quick connections betweenexisting power and a new room, for example using a standardized cablecoupler.

If desired, a panel structure can be provided that extends between anoutside of a modular building and an inside of the building. Inemergency situations, power can be disconnected from internal panelstructures and can be connected to this externally-facing panelstructure. The external side of the panel structure can be connected toa generator. This feature provides quick connectivity to a backup powersystem.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numeralsrepresent like parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows amodular building system 20 in accordance with embodiments. Modularbuilding system 20 may be, for example, a modular data center, althoughfeatures herein may be utilized in any type of modular buildingstructure. For the embodiments described herein, however, the modularbuilding system 20 is assumed to be a modular data center.

The modular building system 20 includes modular rooms 22, 24, 26, 28 and30. The modular building system 20 may include any number of rooms, and,in the embodiment shown, includes five, but the number could be aslittle as one or as many as needed. In addition, although shown as sideby side, the rooms 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 can be arranged in otherconfigurations, on one or more floors.

In accordance with embodiments, to aid in installation and removal ofone or more of the rooms, such as the room 22, wall panel structures 32are provided on walls 34 of each of the modular rooms. The wall panelstructures 32 are configured for the attachment of, or routing through,of high and/or low voltage power or data lines. In the embodiment shownin the drawings, high voltage cables 36 are attached between the wallpanel structures 32, but low voltage cables or data lines may beattached between the wall panel structures.

In embodiments, the modular building system 20 may be a structure havingmultiple floors. In such a case, one or more floor panel structures 38may be provided between stacked floors. The cables 36 may extend betweenthe wall panel structures 32 and the floor panel structure 38. In thismanner, power or data can be routed between floors, utilizing the floorpanel structure 38. Additionally, although not shown, an indoor/outdoorpanel structure 37 may be provided on an exterior wall of one of therooms, such as the room 30. As described below, the exterior panelstructure can provide hookups for a generator, for example.

FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic representation of one of the walls 34 forthe room 28. As can be seen, in the embodiment shown in the drawing, thewall panel structure 32 is mounted in an upper corner of the wall 34. Inthis manner, the cables 36 can be routed along an upper edge of the room28, so that the cables are removed from furniture, servers or otherserver farm equipment in the room. The wall panel structure 32 shown inFIG. 2 includes six conduits 42 arranged at a top portion and a singlepass-through 44 at a lower portion. Any number of conduits 42 and/orpass-throughs 44 may be provided on a wall panel structure 32 or floorpanel structure 38. The wall panel structures 32 and the floor panelstructure 38 can be standardized (i.e., have common configurations), ora number of different arrangements can be provided for differentinstallations.

In embodiments described herein, the conduits 42 are utilized for theconnection of high voltage cable, such as via the cables 36. Thepass-throughs 44 are utilized for routing of data wires, low voltagewires, and/or other wiring. In embodiments, the wall panel structures 32and/or the floor panel structure 38 can be added to a modular room, suchas the modular room 24 upon installation and/or as a retrofit to anexisting room.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an embodiment of the wall panel structure 32in which the wall panel structure is added during construction of aroom. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the wall panel structure 32 ismounted in the wall 34. To this end, an opening or hole 66 is cut orformed in the wall 34, and the wall panel structure 32 is mountedthrough the opening.

In the embodiments shown in FIG. 3, two panels 48 are mounted onopposite sides of the wall panel structure 32 at the hole 66. Each ofthese panels 48 includes a rim 50 that faces the wall 34. This rim 50and the outer edges of the panel 48 overlap the outer edges of the hole66. The panels 48 include openings 52 for receiving the conduits 42.Lower openings 54 provide an entrance and outlet for the pass-through44. To define a structure for the pass-through 44, an open-ended box 56is provided between the two openings 54. Although the pass-through 44 isshaped with a rectangular cross-section, the pass-through can take anyshape of a conduit, including the shape of the conduits 42.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the conduits 42 are a continuousstructure that extends between each of the panels 48 and out of thepanels. Caps 60 may be provided when the conduits are not in use. Theseconduits may be, for example, four inch diameter pipes, such aspolyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes, or pipes or other conduits made of othernonconductive materials. Similarly, the box 56 can be formed of asuitable material, preferably nonconductive.

In embodiments, to prevent a situation where the wall panel structure 32would be a hot spot in a fire, fire retardant filler 68, such as a fireblocking foam or putty, is installed in the hole 66 during installation.This fire retardant filler 68 fits around conduits 42 and the box 56 andfills the hole 66 up to the edges of the wall 34. In this manner, thefire retardant filler 68 provides fireproofing for the wall panelstructure 32.

If desired, the conduits 42 can be prewired with wires therein, and withcouplings on either end so as to provide quick attachment of the cables36. Alternatively, the conduits 42 can be hollow, and the cable 36 canextend through a conduit 42 and can be attached at an opposite end,inside a second room for example, to another cable.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the conduit 42 havingwires 70 that extend along an inside of its length. The conduit 42includes male threads 74 at outer ends. The cap 60 may include matchingfemale threads 76 for fitting onto either of the male threads 74. Thebundle of wires 70 at the end of the conduit 42 forms a coupler 72,which can be arranged in any standard pattern to provide quickconnectivity with the cables 36. To this end, the cable 36 may include acoupler 78 on an end that threads onto the male threads 74 and includesa wiring structure (not shown) that mates with and attaches to the wires70 for connectivity. In addition, while described as “wires”, the wirescan be a single power cable, one or more data cables, or any combinationof these.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an alternate embodiment of thewall panel structure 32 utilizing two-piece conduits for a retrofitconstruction. In this embodiment, the two-piece conduits include twohalves 80, 82 that fit together during installation, as shown in FIG. 6,so as to form a single conduit. Prior to installation, the first half 80can be connected to a panel 48 on one side of the wall, and the secondhalf 82 can be connected to a panel 48 on the opposite side of the wall.The two halves 80, 82 are pressed together when the wall panel structure32 is assembled.

As shown in FIG. 5, the panels 48 can include rims 84, 86 for thepass-through 44 and the conduits 42, respectively. These rims 84, 86provide a structure into which the box 56 and the conduits may befitted. In addition, the rims 84, 86 and outer rim 50 of the panels 48can be used to capture and maintain the fire retardant filler 68 uponinstallation of the wall panel structure 32. This feature permits thefire retardant filler 68 to completely fill the opening 66 and not flowout of the panel 48. Thus, an installer can put fire retardant fillermaterial around the conduits 42 and the box 56 and press the panelstoward each other, with the fire retardant filler being formed into thespaces between the conduits 42 and the pass-through 44.

The two halves 80, 82 are brought together during the installationprocess with a leading edge of the half 82 fitting into the half 80. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the half 82 has a smaller diameter thanthe half 80 for this purpose. If desired, instead of having a reduceddiameter, one of the halves may include a flange that fits around theouter rim of the other half.

Once the two halves 80, 82 are put together, if desired, wires such asthe wires 70 can be installed in the two halves 80, 82 to provide aprewired structure. In addition, the caps 60 may be fitted on the endsof the two halves 80, 82 when the conduit is not in use.

The conduit having the two halves 80, 82 provides an advantage in thatpanels 48 may be installed from either side with attached conduithalves. Similarly, although not shown, the box 56 can be provided in twopieces. In addition, this structure provides a structure where thehalves 80, 82 can be fixed to the panels 48 offsite. The shorter conduithalves 80, 82 also permit an installer to have access to the opening forinstalling fire retardant filler 68 on the inside of the each of thepanels 48. The installer can then press the two panels into placeagainst the hole 66, with the fire retardant filler 68 on the two panelssealing the area around the conduits and the box 56. As an alternate tothis structure, as described above, the box 56 and the conduits 42 canbe single structures, as shown in FIG. 3.

In accordance with embodiments, the panels 48, with the box 56 and theconduits 42 installed therein, may serve as a concrete form in the floor40 or the wall 34. That is, the panels 48 may be put in place andconcrete or another flowable building material may be poured and setaround the box 56 and the conduits 42 during the construction project.In this embodiment, concrete is utilized, and forms the structure aroundthe conduits 42 and the box 56. The panels 48 can be left after theconcrete sets, or can be removed.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, top and bottom panels 48, in theform of rings, can be attached to the conduits 42 to hold the conduitsinto position. As shown in FIG. 8, the frame thus forms a structure forsupporting the conduits 42. Concrete or another flowable buildingmaterial can then be poured into the space between the two frames 48.Bolts 49 can be used to provide anchors for the concrete, once set.

FIG. 9 shows an alternate embodiment of a panel 148 in which foam oranother flowable fire retardant filler material is inserted after panels148 have been installed against opposite sides of a wall. The panel 148includes channels 160 that are connected to an internal space 162defined between the outer panels 148. The channels 160 provide flowaccess to an inside of the panel 148 after the panel is installedagainst the wall. After the panels 148 are installed, an installer mayspray fire retardant foam into the channels 160. The fire retardant foamflows into the space 162, fills the hole 66, and provides a fireproofstructure for the wall panel structure.

The wall panel structures 32 and the floor panel structures 38 describedherein provide quick connectibility and installation of low and highvoltage wires in the modular building system 20. A new room that isinstalled in the modular building system 20, such as the room 22, caninclude the wall panel structures 32, and can quickly be added to thepower infrastructure of the building by adding cables 36 betweenalready-installed and wired wall panel structures 32. If it is desiredto remove the room 22, the cables are disconnected, and the room can bedismantled.

In addition, the cables 36 and couplers 72, 78 provide quick connectionor reroute of high voltage or low voltage power in the building, forexample for restructuring the modular building structure 20, or in thecase of emergency power outage. As an example, a cable 36 may bedisconnected from one of the wall panel structures 32 downstream from apower supply and that cable can be reconnected to the indoor/outdoorwall panel structure 37. The indoor/outdoor wall panel structure 37 canbe connected to a backup source of power, such as a generator.

Having the wall panel structures 32 and/or the floor panel structures 38included in each of the rooms 22-30 permits the addition of more cablingand/or data lines without having to saw or otherwise form holes in wallsof the rooms 22-30. A standard power configuration may use only two ofthe conduits 42, but the others may be readily available for additionalcables 36. This feature is an important one because it permitsmodification to data center rooms or other structural rooms in a modularbuilding system 20 without having to drill or saw more openings for thecables. This features thus avoids the associated dust or construction ofadding more power or data lines.

Typically, data lines will be routed through the pass through 44. Inthis manner, a longer cable can be used, and multiple couplers are notneeded.

Power for a single room can be routed from the wall panel structure 32or the floor panel structure 38. As an example, FIG. 1 shows anembodiment where a subpanel 39 is connected to a wall panel structure 32via a cable 36. The subpanel 39 provides power to the room 26.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that various modifications and changes may be made thereuntowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the claims.

Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure. Thus,while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modificationsand alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereofare shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit theinvention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary,the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructionsand equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, asdefined in the appended claims.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in thecontext of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both thesingular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearlycontradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,”and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning“including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. The term“connected” is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within,attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening.Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as ashorthand method of referring individually to each separate valuefalling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and eachseparate value is incorporated into the specification as if it wereindividually recited herein. All methods described herein can beperformed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein orotherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and allexamples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, isintended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention anddoes not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unlessotherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construedas indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice ofthe invention.

Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, includingthe best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to thoseof ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Theinventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations asappropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practicedotherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, thisinvention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subjectmatter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicablelaw. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in allpossible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unlessotherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

All references, including publications, patent applications and patents,cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent asif each reference were individually and specifically indicated to beincorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A modular building system, comprising: aplurality of rooms separated by walls; a plurality of electrical panelstructures, each electrical panel structure being mounted in a wall orfloor and between an adjacent pair of rooms in the plurality of rooms,the electrical panel structure comprising at least two conduits for theconnection or passage of at least one of power or data cabling betweenthe pair of rooms; and at least one cable connecting two of theplurality of electrical panel structures, wherein said at least onecable and the conduits include standardized couplers for connecting saidat least one cable to the conduits, wherein said conduits includeinternal wiring, and said at least one cable includes wires thatelectrically connect to the internal wiring when said at least one cableis connected to the conduits.
 2. The modular building system of claim 1,wherein at least one of the electrical panel structures comprises afloor electrical panel structure, the floor electrical panel structurebeing mounted in a floor between a stacked pair of rooms in theplurality of rooms, the floor electrical panel structure comprising atleast two conduits for the passage of at least one of power or datacabling between the stacked pair of rooms.
 3. A method of building adata center, comprising: forming a plurality of rooms for the datacenter; forming a plurality of openings, each of the openings extendingthrough at least one of a wall or a floor and between a pair of adjacentrooms of the plurality of rooms; installing a panel structure in each ofthe openings, the panel structure comprising at least one power conduitfor the connection of power between the pair of rooms and at least onepass through conduit for the passage of data cabling between the pair ofrooms; and connecting power conduits of two of the standardized panelstructures by at least one cable, wherein said at least one cable andthe power conduits include standardized couplers for connecting thepower conduits by said at least one cable, wherein said power conduitsinclude internal wiring, and said at least one cable includes wires thatelectrically connect to the internal wiring when said at least one cableis connected to the power conduits.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising, for a first and second room of the plurality of rooms,connecting a first power cable to one of said at least one power conduitin the first room and a second power cable in the second room to saidone power conduit to form an electrical connection between the first andsecond power cables.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprisinginstalling an indoor/outdoor panel structure in an exterior wall of thesecond room, the indoor/outdoor panel structure comprising at least onepower conduit for the connection of power cabling to the second powercable on one side, and for connection to a generator on another side. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the first and second power cables andsaid one conduit include standardized couplers for connecting said atleast one cable to said one conduit.
 7. The method of claim 3, whereinthe panel structures are standardized.
 8. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising, for each electrical panel structure, installing a fireretardant filler in the opening when installing the electrical panelstructure.